FRANCE?S scandal-ridden relationship with Africa is at an end, even if embarrassing hangovers from the post-colonial period remain, France’s overseas development minister has said on the eve of a Franco-African summit.
“The Africans know the integration of France’s cooperation activities into the ministry of foreign affairs has been done to turn the page on ‘Francafrique’,” Charles Josselin told the daily Ouest-France newspaper.
His comments come on the eve of the 21st France-African summit in Yaounde, Cameroon, at a time when “Francafrique” – a term referring to the cosy and often corrupt cultivated ties between France and African leaders in the post-colonial period – has been thrown into the spotlight.
Topping recent scandals has been the son of late former president Francois Mitterrand, who is under judicial investigation for illegal arms trafficking to Angola and misuse of influence during the early 1990’s.
The case has sent shockwaves through the French establishment.
“Certainly some residue has been left behind from this period… [and] these networks have not all dried up,” Josselin admitted.
“But these are no longer supported by France’s political will and do not interfere with our cooperation policy, including in the military field,” he added.
France reformed its overseas cooperation activities in January 1999, bringing its aid activites under the authority of the foreign ministry. The ministry has described the measure as a bid “to improve the effectiveness and coherence of France’s action abroad.”
France is keen to go into the summit – where a central theme will be “Africa and Globalisation” – to push its policies in its former colonial backyard into the 21st century, aiming in part to offset American influence in the continent.
Josselin insists that the Jean-Christophe Mitterrand scandal will not cast a shadow over the mammoth event.
He said such damage could be feared if African heads of state had not yet announced their participation, but noted that around 30 leaders looked set to appear – a number comparable to the 1998 summit in Paris, “which was a great success.”
“Our wish to maintain close ties with Africa remains unchanged,” he said, underlining that France remains by far the largest development aid donor to sub-Saharan Africa. having given 35bn francs in 1999. – AFP